College and Research Libraries B y F R A N K L U N D Y a n d K A T H R Y N R . R E N F R O Problems Confronting University Libraries1 Mr. Lundy is director of libraries, and Miss Renfro, technical service librarian, University of Nebraska. HAVING a s s u m e d t h e r e s p o n s i b i l i t y of p l a n n i n g p r o g r a m s f o r t h e m i d w i n t e r a n d s u m m e r c o n f e r e n c e s of A . C . R . L . ' s U n i - v e r s i t y L i b r a r i e s S e c t i o n i n 1 9 5 1 , y o u r c h a i r m a n f e l t t h e n e e d of o b t a i n i n g a d v i c e f r o m u n i v e r s i t y l i b r a r i a n s in a l l s e c t i o n s of t h e c o u n t r y . A c c o r d i n g l y , a n i n q u i r y w a s s e n t t o 7 2 l i b r a r i a n s l a s t O c t o b e r . T h e m a i l i n g l i s t i n c l u d e d t h e d i r e c t o r s of l a r g e u n i v e r s i t y l i b r a r i e s , t h e d e a n s of s e v e r a l l i b r a r y s c h o o l s a n d t h e l i b r a r i a n s of a n u m - b e r of r e s e a r c h a n d g o v e r n m e n t a l l i b r a r i e s . F o r t y - t w o of t h e c o r r e s p o n d e n t s c o n t r i b u t e d s p e c i f i c s u g g e s t i o n s . T h e q u e s t i o n n a i r e s o l i c i t e d i n f o r m a t i o n a n d c o m m e n t o n c u r r e n t r e s e a r c h p r o j e c t s i n t h e a r e a of u n i v e r s i t y l i b r a r i a n s h i p a n d o n i m p o r t a n t p r o b l e m s i n t h i s f i e l d t h a t o u g h t t o b e e x p l o r e d . T h e r e p l i e s r a n g e d f r o m h i g h - l e v e l p o l i c y a n d g o v e r n m e n t i n u n i v e r s i t y l i b r a r i e s t o s p e c i f i c a n d i m m e d i a t e p r o b l e m s a n d i n s o m e c a s e s t o s t u d i e s of l o c a l v a l u e o n l y . T h e r e f o r e , t h i s r e p o r t w i l l m a k e n o a t t e m p t t o l i s t o r c l a s s i f y a l l of t h e 1 5 0 p r o j e c t s o r p r o b l e m s m e n t i o n e d b y t h e c o r r e s p o n d e n t s , b u t r a t h e r t o h i g h - l i g h t a n d s u m m a r i z e t h o s e w h i c h w e r e r e - p e a t e d l y e m p h a s i z e d o r w h i c h s e e m t o b e of w i d e s p r e a d i n t e r e s t . T h i s r e p o r t m a y h a v e a d d e d u s e f u l n e s s a t t h i s t i m e b e c a u s e of o p i n i o n s e x p r e s s e d a t 1 Report presented at the meeting of the University Libraries Section, A . C . R . L . , Feb. 2, 1951, Chicago. l a s t s u m m e r ' s m e e t i n g of t h e A s s o c i a t i o n of R e s e a r c h L i b r a r i e s t o t h e e f f e c t t h a t t h e A . R . L . s h o u l d d i v e s t itself of m a n y of i t s n u m e r o u s a c t i v i t i e s in f a v o r of t h e A . C . R . L . T h e i n f o r m a l d i s c u s s i o n f r o m t h a t p o i n t of v i e w w a s l e d b y D r . R a l p h E l l s w o r t h , l o n g a l e a d e r in A . R . L . u n d e r t a k i n g s , a n d n o w P r e s i d e n t - e l e c t of t h e A . C . R . L . T h i s r e p o r t c o n s i s t s of t w o p r i n c i p a l g r o u p s of i d e a s : first, t h o s e w h i c h c o n c e r n u n i v e r s i t y l i b r a r i a n s h i p o n a n a t i o n a l s c a l e , u n d e r t h e b r o a d h e a d i n g s of b i b l i o g r a p h i c a l c o n t r o l , d e p o s i t l i b r a r i e s , i n t e r l i b r a r y l o a n s a n d m i c r o f i l m i n g o r m i c r o c a r d i n g ; a n d sec- o n d , p r o b l e m s c o m m o n t o m a n y b u t c o n - c e r n e d w i t h t h e o p e r a t i o n of a s i n g l e i n s t i - t u t i o n , u n d e r t h e h e a d i n g s of g e n e r a l a d - m i n i s t r a t i o n , finance, p e r s o n n e l , t e c h n i c a l s e r v i c e s , r e a d e r s ' s e r v i c e s a n d s t o r a g e . Bibliographical Control and Organization M u c h i n t e r e s t is in e v i d e n c e in b o t h t h e U n i v e r s i t y of C h i c a g o I n s t i t u t e of l a s t s u m - m e r a n d t h e r e c e n t U n e s c o C o n f e r e n c e i n P a r i s o n t h e i m p r o v e m e n t of b i b l i o g r a p h i c a l s e r v i c e s a n d c o n t r o l s . S e v e r a l l i b r a r i a n s w a n t a f u r t h e r d e v e l o p m e n t of p o i n t s b r o u g h t o u t a t t h e C h i c a g o I n s t i t u t e a n d a s t u d y of t h e p e n d i n g b i b l i o g r a p h i c a l p r o - p o s a l s r e c e n t l y m a d e b y t h e L i b r a r y of C o n - g r e s s , U n e s c o a n d o t h e r a g e n c i e s . A n e v a l u a t i o n of t h e w o r k of t h e v a r i o u s b i b - l i o g r a p h i c a l c e n t e r s h a s a l s o b e e n s u g g e s t e d . E m p h a s i s w a s g i v e n t o c o o p e r a t i v e b i b l i o g - r a p h y i n s p e c i a l s u b j e c t s , w i t h p a r t i c u l a r m e n t i o n of t h e s o c i a l s c i e n c e s c u r r e n t l y u n d e r e x p l o r a t i o n a t t h e U n i v e r s i t y of C h i - JULY, 1951 237 cago. T h e vast accretion of titles in card catalogs points to the need f o r reference guides in the f o r m of selective and an- n o t a t e d bibliographies in each of several subjects. Closer collaboration between li- braries and bibliographical services will help control the t r e m e n d o u s and rapidly increas- ing body of i n f o r m a t i o n available in p r i n t . Deposit Libraries C o n c e r n is expressed by university l i b r a r - ians over the size of university library book collections. T h e problem of size m u s t be related to the aims of the institution, and also to the task of m a i n t a i n i n g good re- search collections in all the areas in which the institution has such an interest. Some individuals wish t h a t the large libraries in the c o u n t r y could be more stirred up about cooperative deposit libraries as ap- pendages to groups of research libraries. Interlibrary Loans T h e report of the A . C . R . L . I n t e r l i b r a r y L o a n s C o m m i t t e e which is in p r e p a r a t i o n has evoked considerable interest. T h i s com- mittee is w o r k i n g on the problem of simpli- f y i n g and s t a n d a r d i z i n g the printed f o r m s in i n t e r l i b r a r y lending. O t h e r items men- tioned f o r consideration are detailed studies of the costs of i n t e r l i b r a r y loan transactions, the responsibility f o r reproduction of ma- terials to meet i n t e r l i b r a r y loan requests and the question of b o r r o w i n g f o r w h o m . Microfilming and Microcarding Several problems are indicated f o r the area of facsimile materials. I t is suggested t h a t an exposition of o u r present status in microfilms and microcards should be made. T h i s w o u l d imply the development of a clearing house f o r microfilms located at the L i b r a r y of Congress, and the p u l l i n g to- gether of records as to w h o has microfilmed w h a t . As one librarian asks: " S h o u l d the A . C . R . L . ' s U n i v e r s i t y L i b r a r i e s Section take greater corporate interest in microfilm p r o j e c t s ? " A n o t h e r possibility is t h a t the section m i g h t u n d e r t a k e to d e t e r m i n e w h a t i m p o r t a n t research j o u r n a l s and books should be reproduced by microcard, film or offset p r i n t i n g . A l t h o u g h some such p r o j - ects may be u n d e r way, the need is felt f o r sponsorship of a comprehensive over-all pro- g r a m . N e e d is also expressed f o r a report comparable to a consumers' research report on microfilm and microcard readers. Such a report w o u l d evaluate the readers n o w available and recommend types f o r purchase. F i n a l l y , t h e r e is the problem of e d u c a t i n g the university f a c u l t y to the place w h e r e its members w i l l use microreproductions as readily as books in full-size p r i n t . General Administration I n general a d m i n i s t r a t i o n , university li- brary relationships are conspicuously out- lined as f o l l o w s : the relation of the univer- sity library to the teaching profession, to the university research p r o g r a m and to the uni- versity press; the relationship between the general library and professional school li- braries ; and an a p p r o p r i a t e relationship be- tween the chief librarian and the f a c u l t y library committee. A closely related topic is democracy in library a d m i n i s t r a t i o n as it is practiced in the L i b r a r y of Congress, and in several university libraries. Finance T h e problem of g e t t i n g adequate finan- cial support is closely related to t h a t of m a i n t a i n i n g s t r o n g research collections. T h i s problem is becoming all the m o r e seri- ous in view of the expansion of teaching and research and of present inflationary trends. Specific budgetary problems men- tioned range f r o m the allocation of book f u n d s to decisions as to w h e r e to c u t serv- ices and w h a t materials to preserve in a time of economy budgets and w i t h due rec- ognition of the problem of preserving a 238 • COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES proper balance between expenditures f o r books and f o r salaries. Personnel M a n y of today's most u r g e n t problems concern personnel, in the opinion of several university librarians. O n e c o m m e n t s : "Be- fore university libraries can hope to do their job adequately, university library service, p a r t i c u l a r l y at lower levels, has to be made more a t t r a c t i v e to first-rate people. T h e total problem involves r e c r u i t m e n t , t r a i n - ing, salary and status a m o n g other things. W e have talked a great deal about these problems but very little has been accom- plished in solving t h e m . " A g a i n it is the old story of g e t t i n g more qualified people into the profession. W i t h respect to professional education, one li- b r a r i a n requests a panel of library school directors to explain to the U n i v e r s i t y L i b r a r - ies Section j u s t w h a t library schools are doing to train y o u n g people f o r w o r k in university libraries. A t t e n t i o n also needs to be focused on present practices and possible improvements in selection techniques. I t is still too difficult to locate qualified person? f o r a specific job and to obtain adequate i n f o r m a t i o n about such candidates. C o m - parison w i t h selection techniques commonly employed in civil service and in business might be h e l p f u l . Related topics include the present tendency to cut d o w n on the size of the professional staff w i t h all of its implications, f u l l - t i m e employees versus stu- dent assistants and other p a r t - t i m e help, the organization of the staff f o r administrative efficiency and the drive t o w a r d unionization. Technical services D r . Felix R e i c h m a n n at C o r n e l l U n i - versity has been studying the problem of co- ordination between the acquisition and cata- log d e p a r t m e n t s . H i s observations w o u l d be of interest. Acquisition policy is the subject of a series of articl.es by H a r v a r d ' s librarian, Keyes M e t c a l f , appearing in the Harvard Library Bulletin. Studies of ac- quisition policy should be made in other university libraries. A re-examination of the F a r m i n g t o n P l a n appears to be in o r d e r . Should librarians be w o r k i n g out a l t e r n a t i v e means of a t t a i n i n g the plan's objectives? O n e librarian is u r g i n g a cooperative acqui- sition plan on a regional scale f o r the ac- quisition of certain types of A m e r i c a n pub- lications, those, f o r example, of learned so- cieties and of A m e r i c a n university presses. In the field of cataloging, one administra- tor w a n t s a book w r i t t e n on cataloging "short c u t s " and suggests M r . L o w ' s w o r k at O k l a h o m a A . & M . as a point of de- p a r t u r e ; while another suggests an admin- istrative look into the f u t u r e of a five-mil- lion-card catalog. Should the catalog be divided into three p a r t s ? R a l p h S h a w ' s experiments w i t h photo-clerical routines may have application here. Processing problems w o r t h y of examination include the h a n d l i n g of serials and representative cataloging of difficult materials such as orientalia. A t least one western university librarian believes t h a t exchanges merit m o r e serious attention. In the h a n d l i n g of duplicate periodicals, librarians might w o r k out an a r r a n g e m e n t whereby different libraries w o u l d accept the responsibility of preserv- ing extra copies of all j o u r n a l s listed in certain pages of the Union List of Serials. T h i s division of responsibility w o u l d elimi- nate some problems in preserving an ade- quate supply of duplicates f o r bindery re- placements. T h i s same western librarian asked f o r the establishment of a branch of the U n i t e d States Book E x c h a n g e on the W e s t Coast, to facilitate the h a n d l i n g of g i f t s f o r Philippine and J a p a n e s e libraries, f o r example. T o sum up technical services, as one li- b r a r i a n w r o t e , w e need " A continued but perhaps more f u n d a m e n t a l discussion of JULY, 1951 239 the i n t e r n a l operating problems of librar- >> les. Readers' Services A n o v e r w h e l m i n g interest was expressed in new experiments in the organization of books for more effective use. O n e example is the divisional library as in operation at C o l o r a d o and N e b r a s k a . Several librarians have asked f o r an investigation of variations in the application of the divisional princi- ple—specifically the pros a n d cons of all types of divisional r e a d i n g room a r r a n g e - ments. A n o t h e r i m p o r t a n t t r e n d is the pro- vision of separate physical q u a r t e r s f o r un- d e r g r a d u a t e service in the university library, as exemplified at H a r v a r d and Illinois, and still a n o t h e r is the P r i n c e t o n plan of t h r o w - ing open its collection to all users and intro- ducing " r e a d i n g oases." Several corre- spondents requested an evaluation of these several types of u n d e r g r a d u a t e libraries w i t h critical observation of their shortcom- ings. I n fact, t h e broad subject of service to the u n d e r g r a d u a t e in the university library seems to deserve a f u l l exploration. T h e d e p a r t m e n t a l library, too, is offered f o r study, w i t h respect to such f a c t o r s as opti- m u m size, effectiveness, cost, relationship to general library service, etc. Book Storage Questions raised over storage space f o r books involve not only criteria f o r discard- ing versus storage, but also a f o r m u l a f o r the type of material t h a t should be placed in a storage library. Closely related is the problem of a divided catalog f o r books in storage, as distinguished f r o m books in use; also service to the research w o r k e r f r o m the storage area. R o b e r t O r r ' s c u r r e n t study of the storage library plan at I o w a State Col- lege will be of wide interest, as have F r e - m o n t R i d e r ' s several published studies on problems of book storage. Miscellaneous F o u r subjects are grouped together at the end of this report because they are n e w de- velopments in the library field, or otherwise timely. T h e first is the preservation of li- brary materials amid the h a z a r d s of w a r , and f u r t h e r consideration of the role univer- sity libraries should take in local defense p l a n n i n g . T h e present situation also sug- gests a decentralization of intellectual re- sources so t h a t the bulk of our books will not be concentrated in a half dozen metro- politan centers. Second is the i m p r o v e m e n t of i n t e r l i b r a r y communication w i t h an example of one means, the teletype, at Racine and of another, telefacsimile, at O a k Ridge. In- vestigation should be made of the possi- bilities of using u l t r a f a x , teletype and simi- l a r devices. I n clarification, one librarian c o m m e n t s : " C o u l d such mechanisms re- place, f o r example, union catalogs, and bib- liographical centers as n o w organized, or by tying the research libraries of the c o u n t r y together make the t o t a l library resources of the c o u n t r y readily available every- w h e r e ? " T h i r d in this miscellaneous g r o u p is the problem of accreditation. I t is contended t h a t the A . L . A . should concern itself w i t h accrediting libraries f o r the various regional and professional accrediting associations and also t h a t the A . L . A . should encourage the t r a i n i n g of more librarians r a t h e r t h a n con- c e n t r a t e its effort on restricting the n u m b e r of t r a i n i n g agencies. F o u r t h is the p r o g r a m of the Board of C o n t r o l f o r S o u t h e r n Regional E d u c a t i o n and its implications f o r university libraries. Accreditation as an activity of the A . L . A . and the southern regional p r o g r a m j u s t mentioned will be more f u l l y considered in the t w o papers w e are to hear this eve- ning. (Continued on page 272) 240 • COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES activities. H o w e v e r , I believe there are obvious differences b e t w e e n such library school courses and those g i v e n to u n d e r - g r a d u a t e s u b j e c t students. T h e i r purposes are essentially the s a m e — i m p a r t i n g k n o w l - edge of and f a m i l i a r i t y w i t h c o m m o n ma- terials. F o r the librarian these are the tools of his trade and the instruction must be more complete, more detailed, more com- p r e h e n s i v e ; f o r the engineer this k n o w l e d g e is an a d j u n c t only, and w h i l e it w o u l d doubtless be nice to include more, the es- sentials are all he should be expected to acquire. P r i n c i p l e s of book selection and trade i n f o r m a t i o n are t w o items w h i c h the librarian needs but the engineer does not. I n almost all categories, w h e t h e r it be bibliographical v a r i a t i o n s or k n o w l e d g e of sources, the approach to the s u b j e c t stems f r o m a d i f f e r e n t v i e w p o i n t . T h e librarian tends to have g r e a t e r interest in the book or periodical, per se, as a physical con- t a i n e r ; its m a n y manifestations, its selec- tion, care and preservation, and accessibility are his concern. T h e engineer, on the other hand, is interested o n l y in the container's c o n t e n t s ; w h a t happens in the l o n g chain of events b r i n g i n g it to his use is of little or no real interest to him. H i s b a c k g r o u n d and t r a i n i n g have been entirely d i f f e r e n t . A s a rule, he is not o v e r l y interested in books but in the accomplishment of f a c t u a l results and the means f o r d o i n g so. O u r basic problem is to convince him t h a t the " m e a n s f o r d o i n g s o " include the li- b r a r y . T h o u g h it differs f r o m w h a t the engineer is accustomed to think of as in- s t r u m e n t or apparatus, the w r i t t e n record of scientific k n o w l e d g e can be f u l l y as im- p o r t a n t in p r o v i d i n g f o u n d a t i o n s f o r w o r k and pointing the w a y . A l i b r a r y course m a y thus be compared to those in basic mathematics, i n s t r u m e n t a t i o n , d r a f t i n g and other c o n t r i b u t o r y instruction. T h e more salesmanship w e can exercise the better. B y f a m i l i a r i z i n g the engineer w i t h the printed tools of h i s — a n d o u r — t r a d e , w e do him and ourselves a service. Problems Confronting University Libraries (Continued from page 240) Conclusion I n conclusion, w e trust that the preced- ing report is of v a l u e in its s u m m a r y of these problems w h i c h are a p p a r e n t l y of deepest concern and interest to university librarians over a n a t i o n w i d e area. It does describe trends of t h o u g h t and areas f o r investigation proposed by a representative g r o u p of administrators. I n no w a y is it an a t t e m p t to compile a list of all problems c o n f r o n t i n g u n i v e r s i t y librarians, or to d r a w conclusions as to w h i c h are the most i m p o r t a n t at this time. T h i s report c l e a r l y demonstrates an awareness that established procedures and points of v i e w need periodic re-examination and that n e w developments require constant observation. B o o k collec- tions continue to g r o w p h e n o m e n a l l y . Service staffs, c o r r e s p o n d i n g l y , must be- come l a r g e r and l a r g e r . T h e A m e r i c a n d o l l a r buys less and less. B u d g e t s reflect an i n f l a t i o n a r y situation. T h e problems thus posed can be m e t only t h r o u g h inten- sive cooperative e f f o r t . T h e U n i v e r s i t y L i - braries Section of A . C . R . L . can and should contribute t h r o u g h the development of an active and e x p a n d i n g p r o g r a m of p r o j e c t s and committee w o r k . 272 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES